http://kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/archaeologia-cantiana/ Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number 223382 © 2017 Kent Archaeological Society ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR 1937. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER, 1937. THE Council present herewith their seventy-ninth Report, together with the Accounts for 1937. MEMBERSHIP. The number of members at the beginning of the year was 936, including 6 Affiliated Societies, 71 other Societies and Institutions and 73 Life Members, whilst the Societies in union for the inter- change of proceedings numbered 34. The corresponding figures on 31st December, 1937, were 946, 8, 73, 72 and 37 respectively. Sixty-four new members were elected during the year, but cessations by death and other causes amounted to 54, leaving a net gain in the membership of 10. This small increase was achieved only as the result of the circular which was addressed to members in the Autumn, inviting them to supply the names of any persons likely to be interested in the Society. It is, therefore, clear that special action to keep up the membership is necessary every year, and the Council again stress the need for the continued assistance of all members of the Society in securing new members. The fiftieth volume of " Archseologia Cantiana " is due for publication at the end of the year 1938 and this event would be happily commemorated if, during the same year, the membership could be raised to 1,000 or more. CHANGES. In their last Report the Council referred to the retirement of the President of the Society, Lord Conway. It is with deep regret that they have now to record his death, on 19th April, 1937. xxxviii REPORT, 1937. His interest in the Society was deep and abiding and he is remem- bered with respect and affection by his colleagues on the Council and others who knew him well. The Council also record with regret the deaths of Mr. C. W. Powell, J . P . , D.L., a V i c e - P r e s i d e n t of the Society and a member of over fifty years' standing, and Mr. Arthur H. Neve, Hon. Local Secretary for the Tonbridge district. The deaths of Lord Conway and Mr. Powell gave rise to two vacancies among the Trustees of the Society, and these have been filled by the Hon. Mr. Justice Luxmoore and Mr. R. F. Jessup. Miss V. Elizabeth Buxton has been appointed to succeed Mr. Neve as Hon. Local Secretary. In September the Society's Curator, Mr. Norman Cook, tendered his resignation, on his appointment to the staff of the Morven Institute of Archseological Research at Avebury. Mr. Cook's archseological knowledge and acumen were a valuable asset to the Society, and the loss of his services will be seriously felt. Mr. Cyril Edmund Eisher, who fills Mr. Cook's late post under the Corporation of Maidstone, has also been appointed curator to the Society. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. The Annual General Meeting took place on 22nd April, at Maidstone Museum, by the courtesy of the Museum Committee. The morning attendance was between forty and fifty, and in the afternoon the number swelled to about 100, totals moderate in normal circumstances, but gratifying at the time of a local omnibus strike. The Rev. C. Eveleigh Woodruff, the senior Vice-President, took the chair at the opening of the morning proceedings. After the minutes of the preceding Annual General Meeting had been passed, he expressed the general regret felt at the news of the death, three days before, of Lord Conway of Allington, to whose memory the meeting paid a silent tribute. The Chairman referred next to Lord Conway's retirement from the office of President a few months before his death, and intimated that it was for that meeting to choose a successor. On the motion of Dr. E. W. Hardman, seoonded by Dr. F. W. Cock, Sir Reginald Tower, K.C.M.G., C.V.O., was unanimously elected President of the Society, and Mr. Woodruff thereupon vacated the chair in his favour. REPORT, 1937. XXXIX In moving the adoption of the Report and Accounts for 1936, the President ran through their salient features, touching upon the desirability of increasing the membership, the recent issue of a bulkier volume of Archceologia Cantiana, well suited to the varying tastes of members, the long-awaited General Index, the useful work of the Records Branch—meriting additional subscribers—the successful excursions of the 1936 season, includ- ing a visit to Maiden Castle, Dorchester, and the preparation by Local Secretaries of a Hst of ancient buildings and sites of antiquities in North-East Kent. After the motion had been seconded by Canon G. M. Livett, the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Stokes, reviewed the chief items in the accounts which, he assured the meeting, showed that the finances of the Society were in a satisfactory state. The report and accounts were unanimously adopted. The usual elections followed. Nine new members were admitted and the six retiring members of Council, Mr. Ralph Griffin, Sir Hugh N. Jackson, Bart., Capt. H. W. Knocker, Mr. H. Western Plumptre, Major P. G. H. Powell-Cotton and Major Max Teichman Derville, were re-elected. The Hon. Auditors, . Messrs. F. C. Allwork, F.C.A., and A. G. B. Chittenden, A.C.C.S., were cordially thanked for their services and re-elected. The Hon. Excursion Secretaries, Major T. M. Usborne and Mr. R. W. Strickland, outlined their proposals for the coming excursions, and after a vote of thanks to the Corporation of Maidstone for the use of their rooms, the lunch adjournment was taken. Members re-assembled in the afternoon with their friends, to hear the lectures which had been arranged for them. The Very Rev. Dr. Francis Underhill, Dean of Rochester and Bishop-designate of Bath and Wells, described recent work done and proposed at Rochester Cathedral, and in his own attractive manner, with many flashes o f enthusiasm, spoke of the excavations made and the ancient walls uncovered, as well as of walls still buried in the Cathedral precincts and of the proposed recovery of the site of the cloister. After a hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer, the gathering turned to the subject of pre-history, and Mr. Norman Cook gave a no less interesting address on modern archaeological methods, including the construction of a post-glacial time-scale by reference to the retreat of Scandinavian glaciers, the determination of xl REPORT, 1937. climate by pollen analysis, air photography and its revelations, and the spade. In thanking him the President referred to the diversity of the subjects dealt with by the two lecturers as contributing to the interest of the proceedings. Both lectures were well illustrated by the lantern. The company next inspected an exhibition of manorial documents which had been arranged by Dr. Gordon Ward in the gallery adjoining the lecture room, where also many back volumes of Archceologia Cantiana were on sale at low prices to members. Mr. Richard Cooke once again generously entertained all present to tea. COTTNOIL. During the year Messrs. F. W. Tyler, F.S.A., and H. R. Pratt Boorman, M.A., were elected to vacancies caused by the succession of Sir Reginald Tower to the Presidential chair, and the resignation of Mr. F. H. Day, F.S.A. Mr. Day's retirement, after service on the Council for nearly a quarter of a century, was accepted with sincere regret. The usual quarterly meetings of the Council covered a great deal of current busmess. At the March meeting a general desire was expressed by members to offer to Mr. Arthur Hussey a testimonial in recognition of his valuable and long-continued work for the Society in searching for wills at Canterbury and in preparing works issued by the Records Branch. Although no general appeal was issued, a sum exceeding £40 was soon raised and Mr. Hussey was invited to apply the amount in the manner most agreeable to him. He expressed his deep appreciation of the gift. At their June meeting the Council approved a proposal by Mr. R. F. Jessup, F.S.A., for excavations to be made under the auspices of the Society in the prehistoric hill fortress of Oldbury, Ightham, the consent of the owner having been readily accorded. An Excavation Sub-Committee has been appointed and it is expected that digging will begin early in September, 1938. The Council recently agreed to co-operate with the Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent (a Sub-Committee of the Kent Council of Social Service) in the preparation of a list of historic buildings and sites of antiquities within the County, and at their December meeting, following a request by the Congress of Archseological Societies that the K e n t Archseological Society should REPORT, 1937. xii prepare such a Hst, they set up a Sub-Committee to explore the question and to recommend the action to be taken. It having been found that, owing to the variety of subjects to be discussed, the time allotted for the business of the Annual General Meeting is insufficient, the Council have rearranged the times of meeting and adjourning so as to add considerably to the time aUowed for the business meeting. During the year appeals were received from various sources for grants towards the repair of ancient buUdings, and Hke objects. Owing to the Hmited funds at their disposal the CouncU were, in general, unable to respond to such appeals, but they felt that an exception should be made in favour of the national appeal for the preservation of Avebury, towards which they authorized a grant of five guineas.